Heavy In Your Arms
by prayfortheend
Summary: Hayden Romanov has come back to Mystic Falls, back to her friends; Elena, Caroline and Bonnie, and back to her family home. But being a vampire/human hybrid brings some unwanted attention and some unwanted trouble. Damon Salvatore/OC  Re-written
1. Chapter 1: Bring It On Home

_'Just remember when you come up, the show goes on.'_

_Lupe Fiasco - The Show Goes On_

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><p>Hayden sighed loudly. <em>This is fucking ridiculous<em>, she thought. _I shouldn't be here._

First night back in this god-forsaken town and she was put in the slammer. Hayden was born in Mystic Falls, but when she was nine she moved away with her mother to New Zealand where she started up a Casino. Her father hadn't done anything in his power to try and keep in touch with her, it was hard for him when he too had moved away from Mystic Falls and to Europe with his new girlfriend.

The Romanov family manor just sat at Eagle Crest Peak, no family members even in the country, let alone in Virginia state. But as her mother sold all her businesses, and raked up all her millions, she wanted to move back to her home town; Mystic Falls. Not that she would even spend any time there, Hayden had to catch the plane and remove all cloths covering the furniture herself. Ruth Romanov was currently sunning herself in Australia.

_Ruth Romanov_, Hayden seethed the name. She was only daughter and second child to the American born woman. After her father left her mother she had to watch her whore around with the rich and famous in New Zealand and wherever her mother took her. Young and old, gorgeous and the rich, and then, eventually the _undead_. Hayden wondered how a woman with so much grace and propriety could degrade herself in such a manner. A vampire, her mother had explained, had drunk her blood, replaced it with his and then killed her. She woke up, hungry, scared and deathly afraid from the sunlight; Hayden didn't know what to expect. The vampire who had turned her mother didn't know she had children, and it was one of the reasons why her mother spent so much time away from her daughter; so she wouldn't be succumbed to the hunger that ripped through her body.

"Hey, baby," A tattered and worn looking prostitute sat next to Hayden. Her hair was dishevelled, make-up smudged, in excess of age and had no two front teeth. "I'll go down on you for ten dollars."

Hayden just looked on, watching the policemen walking around the cells, shuffling paperwork and drinking coffee to keep the early hours of the morning taking a toll on their tired bodies and minds. She had grown up in this town for the first nine years of her life and she had never seen a prostitute before, what kind of town had this place turned into? "Yeah? I'll beat the shit out of you free."

The prostitute left, offering her body to some other women in the cell, and even some men in the cell next door. Hayden blew lightly on her knuckles on her left hand, trying to soothe the searing pain of the split flesh. She wasn't particularly proud of the fight, but she sure as hell didn't regret it. Jessica Beauford wasn't just some stuck-up-druggie-whore-who-happened-to-be-the-most-popular-girl-at-Mystic-Falls-high, no; she was all hysteria, delusions and mania. Jessica had heard, like everyone else seemed to have heard in the town that the Romanovs were coming back, and made it her job to talk shit about her and her past.

Jessica may not have hit her first; Hayden certainly ended the fight though.

"Romanov, you're outta here!" A policeman yelled, walking to the cell and opened the door.

She got up from the bench and weaved her way through her fellow low life's and made her way to cell door. Ushered through police cubicles and towards the front of the police station, she was given back all of two of her possessions; her wallet and cell phone and was thrust out of the front door.

Hayden could vaguely remember where she was, in the centre of town, she knew that the Mystic Grill and Bar was close, but she hardly wanted to go there, she just wanted to get to her car and go home. But then again, she had a pounding headache, and bloodied and bruised knuckles, maybe a drink would be the best thing.

She walked through the semi-busy streets, couples having romantic walks and looking for places to eat. Hayden received weird looks from most people, but she just brushed it off, she got weird looks every where she went, she was used to it.

Hayden was asked to protrude some form of Identification for her request for an alcoholic beverage, and was happy to see that the police hadn't taken it. She ordered two bourbon and cokes and sculled one in a large gulp and told the bartender that she wanted a new drink whenever she finished hers and handed him a hundred dollar note and walked over to the Mortal Kombat gaming machine in the corner by the pool tables.

Grabbing some quarters from her pocket, she popped one in the machine and balanced her drink on the top before pushing buttons profusely, trying to beat the computer at it's own game. Scorpion's fighting noises could be heard and in no time Hayden had numerous empty glasses on top of the machine. She had taken off her leather jacket and her Rolex watch because it was 'slowing her down'. So she was completely surprised when a group of people came up behind her and screamed her name.

"Hayden?" She had remembered a voice similar to it, shriek-like and excited. She paused the game and turned around to find Caroline, blonde hair, blue eyes and all grown up. Bonnie and Elena were standing behind her, confused looks on their faces.

"Caroline?" She had certainly… filled out, Hayden thought. She had grown about five feet and had a pair of knockers on her that almost made Hayden jealous. Caroline jumped into Hayden's arms, screaming and jumping up and down.

"Oh my god! I heard you were coming back in town but I didn't know for sure, I thought it was just gossip!"

"Wait a second," Elena spoke from behind them, "Hayden Romanov?"

In an instant Bonnie and Elena had jumped onto their childhood best friend, and soon they were all squealing, Hayden caught in the middle, trying to block the screeching from her ears.

"When did you get in?" Bonnie pulled her over to an empty booth and sat down next to her, Caroline and Elena opposite.

"Uh, this morning, yeah."

"From New Zealand right?"

"Yup."

The three of them asked everything and almost anything about her life; where she had been all these years, what she had been doing, _who_ she had been doing. Hayden replied with the truth; all she had been doing these past few years was surf, smoke, and get drunk. She had an endless supply of money, she lived alone. Hayden was a teenager without a care in the world, without a cause except to have a good time. She didn't care about grades and finding a good job, going to college or settling down; she was all about living in the now.

"You have an accent, it's so weird!" Caroline laughed, her blonde locks bouncing up and down around her shoulders. Hayden only smiled and sipped at her drink, all thanks to her fake I.D – which the girls had been amazed in. If they were amazed in a simple forged piece of plastic, she didn't even want to mention her whereabouts earlier that night.

"You know what's even weirder," Elena looked at her friends, then back at Hayden, "How pretty you are! What's your secret?"

Hayden had to scoff, compared to Elena, she felt completely inferior – albeit only in the looks department.

"I need to get home, get ready for school tomorrow; I got a heap of homework." Bonnie stood up and said goodbye to the girls, and hugging Hayden good-bye. Caroline was next to go, same hug although she insisted on her phone number and home address, along with a picture so she could store it in her underneath her number.

"And then there were two," Elena smiled and sipped at her coke. Hayden smiled and leaned back in the booth, finally free of the excitement of the other two girls she could really get a good look at her childhood best friend. The girl who she shared a bed with whenever they had a sleep-over, the girl who too cried at the Lion King, the only other girl in school who saw The Swan Princess and could sing all the words along with Hayden. She was her childhood platonic sweetheart.

"How are you, Lena? What's the haps?"

She gave a killer watt smile, and Hayden instantly sighed. "Alright, who's the guy?"

"His name is Stefan." It was the start of an hour long conversation about her high-school sweetheart. Elena's heart poured out to Hayden, and she couldn't stop the words falling from her lips, everything just happened. She kept out key-words such as 'vampire', 'council' and 'murder'. Little to Elena's knowledge that Hayden had been living with one for years, she knew they existed and that witches existed too.

"Do you need a ride home?" Elena asked as they walked out to the parking lot. Hayden felt she was asking out of politeness, fully expecting to hear a no so she could just go home, but Hayden was in no state to walk to her car.

"I actually need a ride to my car, if that's okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Why didn't you drive here?" She asked as the two of them hopped in her car.

"Uh," Hayden scratched the back of her head, "I kinda got arrested tonight. They left my car at the park."

Elena's eyes widened and she made a weird noise, which was conducive to the surprise on her face. "Arrested? For what?"

Hayden showed the open flesh wound on her fist, the left hand she had kept underneath the table the whole time they were in the Mystic Grill and Bar. "Oh my god! Are you okay?"

"Yeah! I'm fine, it's only a few scratches, will heal in a couple of days. Just got in a little fight."

Hayden was quick to change the conversation and found out that Elena's parents had just recently passed. She felt a little sad for her friend, something she didn't feel for a lot of people and offered some semblance of comfort, trying to compare her parent's constant distance something like they had too passed from this life, but she knew it wasn't helping, and wasn't at all the same.

"Here it is," Hayden sighed as Elena pulled over to the side of the road, behind her silver 2009 Nissan Skyline GT-R. Her sixteenth birthday present from her father. "Hey, ring me anytime, okay? Seriously, if you just want to take your mind off shit, I promise I can provide a good time." Hayden gave her number to Elena and left after thanking her for the ride.

She hopped into her car and revved the engine before peeling from the curb and off towards her house at Eagle Crest, a private reserve on the Romanov Manor property. The house lights were on, and could be seen from all the way at the end of the drive which must have meant Julian, her mother's butler, had finally arrived. She drove around the large water fountain at the centre of the drive-way and parked as close as she could the front door. Leaving her keys in the ignition, something she would never do back in Auckland, she entered the house.

"Julian! I'm home!" Hayden was still getting used to the house she had spent most of her childhood in, and walked into the kitchen where some dinner was waiting for her in the warm oven. She pulled the plate of food from the oven, and a beer from the fridge before she headed into the living room where she had set up her xbox 360. It was a Wednesday after all, and she didn't start at Mystic High until the following Monday, which meant she had days to catch up on some video games she had missed on the plane ride.


	2. Chapter 2: A Little Schooling

_'And tell me how they got that pretty little face on that pretty little frame, girl.'_

_Justin Timberlake - Summer Love_

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><p>Charm doesn't travel. Like spontaneous wit it tends to need the full surround of being there and sexual allure and without heed seems even more problematic. So when Elena lay in bed with Stefan, trying to explain the return of her childhood friend and all the memories that surrounded her; it was easier said than done.<p>

"Sounds like you two had a lot of fun, why did she move away?"

Elena shrugged, and nuzzled closer to Stefan, "Her parent's got divorced and her dad re-married within a couple of weeks and moved to Europe, her mother had her own love life to really give any sort of care and took her to New Zealand with her."

"Doesn't sound like a very good life."

She shrugged again, but looked up at Stefan, "I know. Hayden made me so grateful for having my mum and dad because all I remember growing up, that when I went over to her house, was that her parent's didn't care. Sure, they loved Hayden, but they were way too self-absorbed to give any real love. It was why she was so close with me, and I can't imagine what kind of life she had in New Zealand."

Sure, Stefan felt sorry for this girl for having to live a life so lonely, but in no way could it have been as lonely as his life had been before he had met Elena. At least Hayden still _had_ an actual family.

"I'm worried about something else though," Elena brought Stefan out of his train of thought, "There is so much stuff going on at the moment that, I don't know if I want to bring her into this. Bonnie and Caroline are already in it, everyone I love, is in this. And Hayden, she doesn't have to be. I mean, Hayden is gorgeous, I can only imagine what kind of trouble that she could get into."

Stefan laughed, and squeezed his girlfriend closer to his body, "Not as pretty as you though."

She giggled and kissed her boyfriend's lips.

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><p>This was how Hayden's world ended, the first step to eternal life was that she had to get out of bed and head to school, because that place was her own personal hell.<p>

She had hardly ever gone to school in New Zealand, her private school didn't care much for the students and how much they attended classes, as long as their parent's still paid the bills they were fine with most sorts of immorality. Hayden woke up to someone ringing her phone, and in her tired stupor she reached out and put her cell phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hayden, it's Elena!"

"Oh," Hayden had expected to hear from her earlier than Monday morning, but alas, she knew she was probably busy and couldn't just drop everything to attend to her lonely needs. Hayden had wanted to check out the town a little more. She wanted to see how much it had changed, if, it had changed at all. It was nice to be back in a quiet town; Auckland City was always busy with traffic, parties and all other sorts of debauchery. You could go to a fast food joint and get a snack in the middle of the night with no problem, but here, they didn't even have a fast food restaurant. I mean, what did these people eat? "Hey, what's up?"

"Not much," Elena's voice could be heard over the voice of her brother's and Jenna's, and she guessed that she was in the kitchen. "I was wondering if you wanted a lift to school, you know, help you to remember the town before you start driving there yourself."

"Sure."

"Okay, so you're at your old house, right? I'll be by in half an hour."

Hayden rubbed her eyes, and said her goodbyes before hopping out of bed and making her way lazily down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Hayden," Julian smiled and placed a coffee in front of Hayden as she sat down at the breakfast island. She sipped from the cup and sighed; strong with heaps of cream and sugar, just how she liked it.

"I feel like shit." She coughed and her head fell onto the marble counter.

Julian only ignored her and pulled some food from the counter behind him, "I packed your lunch for you; chicken salad sandwiches, an apple, some orange juice with pulp and some white chocolate chip cookies freshly made this morning."

She moaned and reached for the food but it was quickly snatched from beneath her fingers, and instead a plate of food was placed in front of her. "No, lunch is for lunch. I don't want you eating your food before you even get to school."

Julian knew her far too well.

She finished her pancakes with fresh fruit and cream and maple syrup. She felt herself getting full but she simply couldn't stop herself, and kept on eating. Walking up to her room she grabbed a random pair of jeans and a plain white v-neck shirt off the floor.

"Nice outfit," Elena said from behind her as Hayden threw her hair into a ponytail.

Hayden smiled and walked over to her friend, greeting her with a hug, "You remember where my room is! Even after all these years."

Elena shrugged with a smile on her face, "Are you kidding me? I practically lived here as a kid!"

The two were out of her room in a couple of minutes of Elena awing over all her gadgets, and they went out to her car where she drove the two of them to school. "So, Lena, talk to me about the talent in town."

"Talent?"

Hayden's hand hit her face. She had to remember to refrain from using the New Zealand lingo she had picked up over the years since she was now in America again. "Talent as in hot guys around here. Talk to me about all the good looking people," and as the two passed an elderly couple walking down the street, "And where they all hang out."

"I think you have forgotten that I am spoken for," Elena sent her a playful look; "Stefan's the only boy for me, Hades."

Hayden made a noise of disgust and looked out the window, "C'mon! You don't even look at other guys? What about that guy Matt that always wanted to hang around you, and his little friend Tyler. That guy was such a fucking asshole, I loved it! How are those guys, and more importantly, how did they grow up?"

Elena laughed, shaking her head as they pulled into the high school parking lot and found a park, "Matt is good actually, and Tyler..." she gave it a thought, "Hasn't changed that much."

People stared at Hayden as she walked through the corridors and towards the reception area, and while she was used it to it, Elena wasn't, and she pegged it down to her coming back to town.

Her first day of school had been highly uneventful, just like she thought it would be. The best part was lunch time when she could lay on the grass, and just get to know everyone better. She hadn't seen Bonnie, Caroline and Elena in so long, she liked being able to know what they had been up to and compare it to how she had spent the last years of her life. She was looking forward to meeting Stefan, the boy Elena had talked about a lot considering the two of them had only talked to each other twice since she had come back to Mystic Falls but he called saying he had an emergency with his brother and that he would meet up with the rest of them after school at the Mystic Grill.

Hayden was resting against Elena's car, waiting for her to get out of class when someone came up behind her.

"Hayden Romanov?" She had been getting that all day, to say she was sick of it was an understatement. She turned at the noise, to face a boy around her age with brown eyes and brown hair. He was tall, about six feet which towered over Hayden's five foot four figure.

"Yeah, who are you?"

A small smirk was visible on his lips, "It's Tyler."

Before she knew it she had thrown herself into his arms, and hugged him tightly. While everyone thought Tyler was a complete wanker, she had always though he was just misunderstood; just like herself. Everyone pegged her for a rich, loner kid, but Hayden was so much more than that.

"Oh my god," she didn't know what to say when she held him at arms length.

"Tell me about it. You really grew up, you know that?" He looked her body over, "Really filled out."

She squeezed his biceps for effect, "Same to you, Lockwood."

"Tyler," Elena walked up behind Hayden and gave him a firm nod before hopping into her car without another word. And Hayden took that as her cue to leave. She bid goodbye to Tyler and jumped into Elena's car, and she peeled from the parking lot without another word.

"God," Hayden laughed, "You kinda left out the part about Tyler being really fucking hot."


	3. Chapter 3: Death

'_I'm on the pursuit of happiness and I know, everything that shines ain't always gonna be gold'_

_Kid Cudi – Pursuit Of Happiness_

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><p>"So is there where like, all the cool kids hang out?" Hayden asked as she looked around the Mystic Grill to see a lot of seniors from her school surrounding her. Some of them ate at some tables, others played pool and some even ordered drinks with fake ID's.<p>

"You could say that," Bonnie gave a small smile as she sat down next to her, "How did you like your first day?"

Hayden only made an indistinguishable noise signalling how she really felt about school, before stretching her arms and standing up, "You guys want something to drink?"

"Sure. Can I have a diet coke?" Caroline asked.

"And can I have a sprite?" Elena followed.

"Are you guys serious?" Hayden only shook her head, and pulled her own fake ID from her wallet, "I'm talking about a serious drink. Something fun."

They only looked at each other, looking like they were finding something to say. Like they didn't want to offend Hayden by saying no. She rolled her eyes, "No problem. Diet coke and a sprite?"

She made her way over to the bar, and after ordering Elena and Caroline's drinks, she asked for a pitcher of beer and three shots of tequila. After downing the shots of tequila on the spot, and leaving them at the bar, she grabbed the pitcher and turned to leave before bumping into someone.

A loud cuss left her lips as she expertly didn't spill a single drop of her alcohol and she found her balance.

"You need to be more careful, sweetheart," A cool, but arrogant voice came from above Hayden's short stature and she looked up into blue eyes. It didn't sound like a threat, but merely a piece of advice, and she was sure he was referring to where she walked but there was something that seemed like he meant something entirely different.

"Now why does that sound like a threat?" She took a step backwards as she realised how close they were still standing together. Hayden dammed herself for talking, for her instincts told her to run away from this man. Something told her that he was dangerous, and not in a sexy way. Like his flawless appearance, and perfect face was all a façade, his black clothes and leather jacket amplified that his soul was just as dark as his persona.

And yet, instead of walking away and muttering an apology, she stood in front of him, a smirk on her lips that matched his own and found herself trying to look appealing with a pitcher of beer in hand.

"It's not a threat," His eyes found hers and some dimples showed as he smirked, "Some people aren't as nice as I am, just saying. This town has changed since you've been here last."

She had to laugh bitterly, was her presence in this town known by everyone? Couldn't she just come back home and be in the dark, live her own life? "Does everyone know I'm back?"

He shrugged, and took a step closer, "You're a popular girl, a popular topic at least."

She moved from instinct, she didn't want to be close to him, she wanted to be as far away from him as possible, yet, she found herself flirting back, "Ahhh, I see. Am I this popular with all the good looking boys?"

"Nope. Just me. I've heard a lot about you, Romanov."

She was about to question him, ask him as to why this boy she hadn't even met before, seemed to know a lot about her, but someone interrupted.

Elena, in fact.

"Damon, what are you doing?" Elena's words quickly left her mouth, and she came to stand in front of Hayden, like she was blocking the view, protecting her.

"Just meeting your friend, Hayden." He smirked, and looked Hayden right in the eyes, and she instantly found herself looking away. "Nice girl."

Elena didn't beat around the bush, "Yeah? Well don't you have something better to do? Hayden, let's go."

No more words were spoken as Hayden was dragged back towards the table with Caroline and Bonnie, chatting away happily. Hayden sat down with her pitcher, and Elena passed Caroline's diet coke to her before sipping her sprite with vigour and persistence.

"What the fuck was that all about?" Hayden didn't bother with the glass; she sipped the Heineken straight out of the pitcher.

"What was what all about?" Bonnie laughed at her friend's use of profanity.

"Damon." Elena whispered and Bonnie and Caroline's eyes immediately widened.

"Stay away from that creep, Hades, okay?" It was Bonnie's turn to dish out the hate. "He's no good."

Hayden was confused to say the least, she didn't understand, what could this guy have done to make her friends hate him so much?

"What did he do exactly?"

"Who?" A voice came from behind Hayden, and all four girls' heads snapped in the direction of the voice.

"Stefan!" Elena smiled and jumped up, hugging her boyfriend. The two embraced before Elena turned towards Hayden, "This is Hayden."

He offered a small smile, and held out his hand for her to shake, smiling back she took it before sitting back in her seat. There was small idle chatter, Stefan pulled up a chair and sat next to Elena, holding her hand the whole time and Hayden found it hard not to stare at all her friends. How they had grown up and changed so much, how different they were from how they used to be, how Hayden was now.

She was just about to join in the conversation when her phone rang. Pulling it out of her pocket, she checked the caller ID before answering.

"Julian."

"Miss Romanov," Julian's cool voice came over the receiver, "Will you be home for supper?"

She shook her head, even though he couldn't see her, "No, Julian, I won't be."

"All right then, Miss Romanov."

"Who was that?" Caroline had a smirk on her face, asking as soon as the phone was back in Hayden's pocket.

"Don't get too excited," She smiled, "It was my butler – well, my mothers butler."

Caroline scoffed, "You have a butler?"

Hayden only shook her head, "Unfortunately, I belong to one of _those_ families."

"The Lockwood's don't even have a butler!" She squealed, apparently finding this all rather interesting, "Oh my gosh, I am friends with like, the richest girl in Mystic Falls!"

"Caroline," Bonnie scolded her friend, "You can't just say that!"

"Why not? Miss Hayden Romanov, richest girl in Mystic Falls – my best friend!"

Hayden only smirked at the blonde next to her, "Wait," Stefan asked and her attention turned to the boy at the table, "Romanov? You don't happen to be a descendant of the Russian Emperors do you?"

"Yeah, actually, on my Dad's side."

"Wow, that must be cool, to have such a rich history like that," he gave a small smile and Hayden scoffed.

"Don't, I already got that speech from my history teacher today."

"Ah, yes," Elena smiled, looking over at her boyfriend, "Ric has in fact already stated his jealously over Hayden's lineage."

Hayden was about to ask why Elena called her teacher by his first name when a bartender walked over to their table, placing a shot glass of tequila on the table. "This is courtesy of the man at the bar." Everyone turned their heads to where the bartender was pointing to see Damon with a shot himself, holding it up in the air and smirking at her. With a wink and a nod, he downed the shot.

"Damon…?" Stefan looked confused, "How do you know Damon?"

"She doesn't," Elena replied for her, "He came up to her at the bar, but I took care of it."

"And why did that happen?" Hayden down the shot, and chased it with a large gulp of her beer, "He's hot."

"Don't!' Bonnie whispered viciously, "Don't ever go there! He's a total asshole! He used Caroline and threw her away like trash."

"Jeez," Hayden laughed at her friend's behaviour, "Okay, cool your jets."

They all talked for a couple more hours, ordering food and on Hayden's part – far more alcohol – and before anyone knew it, she was drunk and everyone was ready to leave.

"You know what?" Hayden stumbled out of the Grill and caught her footing before she fell, "I'm totally okay to drive, let me just find my keys and – hey! Where's my car gone?"

Bonnie and Caroline had left to go home, already saying their goodbye's, which left Stefan and Elena to laugh at the young girl in front of them. "I drove you here, Hayden. Remember?" Elena jingled her keys to emphasise the fact.

"Oh, right," she laughed and ran over to Elena's truck, and then waited for them to walk. It was only a couple of minutes before Elena and Stefan managed to pour Hayden into the car, buckle her seatbelt and then be on their way to her house. The couple laughed at her drunken ramblings, which hardly made sense except to herself.

"Okay, let's get you to bed," Stefan lifted the petite girl with ease and walked her to the front door with Elena, who knocked.

It was a couple of minutes before a middle-aged man answered the door, in a simple black suit with his sleeves rolled up, once Julian saw his employer in the boys arms, he hardly looked surprised.

"Miss Gilbert, so nice to see you again, I hope Hayden didn't bother you to drive her here," He opened the door ajar, ready for Stefan to bring the girl inside, "Please come in."

With a small sigh, visible to only himself, Stefan carefully walked through the door and followed Julian up the stairs, Elena following suit. Being an old entity himself, he had to admit, her house was awfully gorgeous. It was like the boarding house only cleaner and covered with newer appliances and far more artwork. Some, Stefan could realise were some originals, and he had to wonder what her parent's did for a living. Her father wasn't around, living in Europe if he remembered what Elena had said in bed a couple of nights before, and her mother did some kind of business in New Zealand, along with pretty much everywhere else in the world. So how could they possess pieces of artwork worth so much?

Julian pushed open some oak, wooden double doors to reveal a large bedroom, which he guessed belonged to Hayden, covered in all sorts of technologies, a huge TV, xbox 360, a fancy computer and some old school gaming machines in the corner, the walls were covered in old paintings, portraits and places, some famous and some not so famous. The only thing that gave it away that it was a teenage girl's room was all the clothes that littered the floor.

"If you could place her on the bed, sir," Julian pulled back the covers and smiled at Stefan who complied with her butlers wishes.

"Do you think it would be okay to leave her?" Elena worried, and turned to her boyfriend, who only nodded his head.

"She'll be fine. She's drunk, not dying."

Hayden woke with a start, a purpose; to vomit. She threw the blankets off her legs and ran from her room to the bathroom. Emptying the contents of her stomach – which contained nothing but liquid – she made sure to brush her teeth and get changed out of her clothes before she went back to bed.

She didn't feel up to school today, she was jet-lagged, hung-over and although she wouldn't have liked to admit it – a little embarrassed. She made a fool out of herself in front of her friends and even Stefan, a drunken fool nonetheless.

After hours of sitting in her bed, drifting in and out of sleep, Hayden thought that maybe her hangover had passed, it wasn't until her cell phone rang that she cussed loudly and damned those thoughts to hell.

"What?" She answered the phone with a bit more irritation than she usually did.

"Hayden, darling," Her mother's posh voice sounded through the speaker and she had to scowl at herself. That she was stupid enough to not look at called ID before answering. "How are you holding up?"

"Fine, mother. Perfect, in fact."

"How wonderful, how is Mystic Falls? Anything change? Listen, darling, I was thinking of coming back home, just for a while-"

"Have you killed anyone lately? Fed on anyone?" Hayden interrupted her mother, "In fact, have you got your hunger under control at all?"

There was a silence on the other end, and Hayden had to scoff, "Yeah, I don't want you here if there is risk of you killing me."

After her mother had been turned into a vampire, she didn't want her anywhere near her. It was hard enough that she didn't like her in the beginning, but Hayden didn't want to have to live in fear of being exsanguinated. Ruth Romanov was a very gluttonous being, and with her changed into a vampire, Hayden knew that those wants and needs were magnified. She didn't have a problem with vampires in particular, but she just enjoyed fucking shit up to end her life so young.

"I've got business to take care of, Hayden. Not everything has to do with you, so stop being an ungrateful little bitch. If I want to come back home, then I will."

Hayden rolled her eyes, "Then why ring up? You do whatever you want anyway, why call at all?"

There was a large sigh on the other end, and some rustling, "Listen, I've talked to Andrew, he said that they are vampires in Mystic Falls that you should look out for… I just want you to be careful, okay? Wear that ring I gave you, you won't die if-"

"Oh, my god," Hayden threw her head back into the pillow, "Yes! I'll be careful! I get it, you've been giving me the same speech for six years. You've been gone my whole life, what makes you think I can't look after myself at eighteen years old?"

There was no answer, just a dial tone from the receiver and Hayden laughed bitterly before forcing herself out of bed.

"Have you tried ringing Hayden?"

"No," Elena sat down at the table, pulling out her lunch, "Thought I would let her sleep it off."

"You have to admit, it was pretty funny seeing her drunk," Bonnie smiled and sipped at her water.

Elena forced a smile on her face and Bonnie looked worried. "What's the matter?"

The pretty brunette girl shrugged her shoulders. What was the matter? What had Elena so worried? What had her feeling this way, that something was going to go terribly wrong; that something was going to happen to Hayden?

"I just have this feeling, you know?" Elena looked to see if anyone was listening before continuing, "That something really bad is going to happen, with Hayden. I don't think we should hang around her too much. I mean Damon is already starting to take an interest in her and I don't want it to go any further."

Bonnie's eyebrows furrowed, "So what? You think we should stop being her friend? Caroline is fine, I'm fine, I think you may be reading too much into this." A small smile graced her lips, "Leave the bad feelings and intuitions to me, okay?"

Elena still didn't look sure and Bonnie grabbed her friend's hand in hers, gripping it tightly, "Look, if anything you have told me about Hayden's home life is true, then I think the only thing she actually really needs in the world is us; her friends. We can't start dodging her calls and ignoring her just because we think it's what is right for her. We don't have the power to start making that decision."

"You're right," Elena provided a smile, "I'll invite her over for dinner. You want to come?"

"Can't. Grams wants to talk to me about some witch stuff, but I'll call you afterwards, to see how it went, okay?"

After getting a phone call from Elena, inviting Hayden to dinner, she thought it would be best if she didn't go into school today, and instead use the time to recuperate properly for tonight, which included a long, hot bath, heaps of video games and eventually, more alcohol.

Getting changed into a pair of black skinny jeans that hugged her legs perfectly and a white v-neck shirt that revealed just enough cleavage, Hayden completed her outfit with her black leather jacket before running down stairs and into the kitchen where she found Julian.

"Home for dinner tonight, Miss Hayden?" Julian was stuffing a large turkey, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

"Nah, sorry, Jules. Gotta go to some dinner at Elena's house."

He looked down at the bird he was stuffing and sighed, "Right then."

"Hey, do you wanna come?" Hayden knew it wasn't something someone usually asked of their butler, but Julian was far more than that to her. He was her father, her brother, her best friend. For years he was the only friend she ever had.

"I am afraid that might be a little inappropriate seeing as I wasn't invited," A genuine smile graced his lips.

"You sure?"

"I am, Miss Hayden."

"Okay, hey, you know what? Still make the Turkey. No doubt I'll come home and be hungry, and we can have a proper dinner when I get back. Just you and me." Hayden smiled at Julian. Not like it would be anyone else but the two of them, but regardless, the two of them liked to spend time together. And sometimes Hayden felt a little guilty leaving him on his lonesome all the time.

"Sure thing."

"Great," Hayden flashed her dazzling smile and walked over to the fridge to grab a beer and sat down at the marble island where Jules stood. "Ruth called too. She's thinking about coming back."

"Good. I think it would be good for you to see your mother again."

"No. I don't want to see her if she is still the same person as when she left."

Julian felt incredibly sorry for his employer, although it seemed like she had everything she had ever wanted, she never really had a family. Her parent's always seemed far more involved in their own lives to really care about their daughters. "Not all vampires are bad, Miss Hayden. If I recall you're father was a great man."

"Are you kidding me?" Hayden had to laugh, "I haven't seen dad in years! Do you realise how much it sucks to have vampires as parents? I mean, I always understood Dad being away all the time, I mean, he's been a vampire for over three hundred years and he is always so busy, but Ruth, she should have been here."

She closed her eyes, trying to swallow whatever anger started bubbling within her. She blamed her parents for how she was, how she acted. She was a supernatural miracle, born to a vampire father and a human mother; only know her mother had been turned as well. She was brought up thinking she was completely normal, and didn't find out she was a half-vampire, half-human freak until her mother was turned and she revealed every secret of the family. About her father and her birth. And Hayden was to keep it all a secret; she wasn't to tell anyone about what she was, because she was one of a kind. Her ring however, had been enchanted by her father's new wife, a thirteenth birthday present.

After her father had learned that his daughter knew about himself, her linage, and even her mother, he had his wife, who was a witch, enchant a ring for her. A ring that, if ever she was to be killed or even die by accident, that she would survive, come back to life. Hayden couldn't believe that a ring, something so small, could protect her life.

"Maybe," Julian sighed and looked over at his employer's daughter with a sad smile on his face, "But there are vampires in this town, and by what your mother has said to me, not good ones. So if you wear your ring then maybe we can live to see ourselves leave this place."

Hayden had to smile; Julian always knew the right thing to say whenever she was down. About to jump up and wrap her favourite person in the world in a hug, she was interrupted by her cell phone ringing.

_Elena_.

"Hey."

"Hey!" Elena's happy voice penetrated her ears, "So I'm leaving for home now, so see you there?"

"Sure thing." Hayden ended the call and hopped up from her seat at the island. "I gotta go now, I'll be home later."

Hayden made sure she had her phone, her beer and her ring before leaving the house and jumping into her car. The ride was anything but silent; she blasted music from her speakers, shouting the lyrics and sipping at the beer in her hand, driving through the roads going almost twice the speed limit. She was thankful that growing up on the New Zealand roads had taught her to drive with such skill. Well, that and grand theft auto.

Pulling up outside Elena's house, she had to smile. It was exactly the same as she remembered it to be. It was still the same colour, the flowers in the garden, even the grass was the same length as she remembered it to be. After locking her car, she walked up to the front door and knocked, waiting for someone to answer.

The door opened inward, Hayden's hair blowing around her face as she saw Jenna standing in the doorway. "Jenna?"

"Hayden?"

The two of them hugged each other, large smiles on their faces at memories of the other coming to mind. "Wow, Hades," Hayden smiled at the use of her nickname that was so popular for her growing up, "You have… really grown up."

"Thank you?"

"It's a compliment, believe me."

"Okay then," Hayden followed the girl into the living room, where Jeremy sat, playing Xbox.

"Jeremy?"

His eyes left the television for a second, "Hey Hayden," and then he did a double take, "Hayden, hey…"

"Puberty treated you well, Jer, you've really grown up." He paused the game in a second and had left the couch, walking over to Hayden to get a hug which she gladly reciprocated.

"Me? You look… wow, you look amazing."

"Anyway," Jenna interrupted the two teenagers awkwardly, "What are you doing here? Elena isn't home; I think she might be at Stefan's."

"Uh, I hope not, because she invited me to dinner."

Hayden was ushered through the kitchen, to where Jenna was sitting with Damon in the kitchen, cooking. To say she was surprised to see him with a towel leisurely thrown over his shoulder was an understatement. She thought Elena and such didn't like this guy? Then why was her over here in the kitchen cooking?

"Hayden," He had a smirk on his face as he nodded in hello, "Fancy seeing you here."

"Damon," Hayden sat down at the island in the middle of the kitchen. A glass was placed in front of her, and he filled it with red wine, all with that incredibly sexy smirk on his face. She didn't know what to do. Her emotions were conflicted; everyone was telling her to stay away from this guy, but every bone in her body wanted to jump right there and then, and with the way he was looking at her, she thought he wanted the same thing.

In a matter of seconds Jenna was all over him, flirting shamelessly and talking about ex-boyfriends. Hayden was glad she only had to listen to it for a couple of minutes before Elena entered the kitchen and looked just as confused as she did.

"Hey!" Jenna had clearly had a little too much wine, "Where have you been? We're just cooking dinner, Hayden too."

Elena looked over at her friend who only sent her a look of quiet desperation, and Elena made a reminder to ask her about that later.

"Stefan with you?"

"Uhm, he'll be here soon."

"Good." Damon replied and came over to fill Hayden's glass which was previously empty. "Enjoying the wine, Hades?"

What was this guy's deal? What had him think that he could flirt with every girl in the room and get away with it? With his luscious dark hair, effortless smirks and perpetual good looks, it pissed Hayden off. Which, thanks to her vampire lineage, was extremely easy.

Downing her wine in one gulp, she left the kitchen and entered the living room. Jumping the back of the couch, she plopped down next to Jeremy, stealing his controller and fluently picking up his place in the race.

"Hey," he objected with a laugh in his voice, and Hayden only smiled back before finishing the race first. "I was playing that."

"Obviously, Jeremy," she smiled back at him, "Go get the other controller."

He signed in on his controller and the two of them caught up on life, shamelessly flirting with each other and playing Need For Speed Hot Pursuit, which was Hayden's third favourite game, so she had beat Jer more times than she could count before Damon rudely interrupted.

Jeremy was called into the kitchen to help setting the table, which meant his controller was placed on the couch, unoccupied for only a few seconds before Damon had snatched it up.

"Why do I get the feeling you don't like me?" Damon smirked while un-pausing the game and accelerating in the vehicle.

Hayden shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, there's just something about you that doesn't seem like you're good for me. I'll tell you when I know what it is."

He smirked._ Oh, she didn't know the half of it._

"Hayden," Elena sang from the kitchen, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Letting the controller fall out of her hands and onto the couch, she followed Elena's voice towards the kitchen. "Yo, bro. What's up?"

Elena didn't want to have to ask her friend to do this, but something was more important, and she had to deal with finding Jonathan's journal before Damon did. Stefan had just sent her a text saying he was on his way, and needed to talk to her and Damon, and that it was best that Hayden may go home, seeing how as she wasn't involved in any of this.

Elena ushered Hayden out to the foyer, by the front door, "I know this is going to sound really, really bad. But something just came up, emergency family thing. I promise to tell you about it as soon as I can but do you think you could—"

"Leave?" Hayden scoffed. God, like hell it was a family thing. Elena always had been a shitty liar.

"I'm so sorry. Really, I will explain everything at school tomorrow."

Hayden shrugged her shoulders, "Lena, don't worry about it. Seriously."

And within a second Hayden was out the door and in her car, peeling out of the driveway and down the street towards town; towards the Mystic Grill.

Bonnie laughed, "Well, first mistake, Metallica karoke?"

Her date with Ben had been going better than great, excellent in fact. She loved how much of a gentleman he was, funny and definitely cute as well. Things felt like they were finally falling into place. Like she would be able to finally have all the happiness that Elena possessed if she had her own boyfriend.

Ben laughed, "At least I committed."

Bonnie was about to reply when she saw Hayden enter the grill past Ben's head, and she had to smile. _Was she seriously here to get drunk again? How much alcohol could this girl take? _

"Hayden!" Bonnie waved her arms frantically in the hopes of catching her friend's attention. And it worked. Hayden spotted the dark skinned girl, and smirked seeing her with a boy.

"Hayden, this is Ben, Ben, this is Hayden." The two of them shook hands before the gorgeous brunette girl turned to her friend.

"You talk to Elena today?" She wanted to try figure out what was the matter with her, and Bonnie seemed the way to do that, they were best friends after all. "She's acting weird."

Kid Cudi's Pursuit of Happiness came from Hayden's back pocket and she fished for her cell phone. Checking the caller ID, and noticing it was Julian, she decided it would be better if she took it, since it turned out after all she was going to be home for a proper dinner and not just a second dinner.

"Bon, we'll talk about it later, okay? Gotta take this call." Hayden quickly hugged her friend goodbye and left for the bar, where she could order herself a drink.

Bonnie stood frozen in her place, like she had been shocked by Hayden's touch, one thought came to mind.

**Death. **

Was it possible? Was Hayden a… vampire? She had gotten the exact same feeling when she touched Stefan. Ben's voice broke her out of her trance and she stared at him. "What? Oh, nothing. I just gotta make a really important phone call. Be back in a second, okay?"

She didn't leave time for him to reply, she had taken her phone and left towards the bathroom, as far from Hayden as she could, and dialled Elena's number.

"Okay, I'm alone. Give me the deets, Bonnie, I'm dying."

"It's going great," Bonnie answered quickly, "He's a perfect gentleman, but that's not why I'm calling."

"What's the matter?"

"Hayden just hugged me right?—"

"Wait, Hayden's there? At the Grill?"

"Yeah," Bonnie's eyebrows furrowed and continued, "Anyway, when she hugged me I got this really, really weird feeling, it like, shocked me, and then I realised it was the exact same feeling I got when I touched Stefan."

"What?" Elena sounded worried now, and extremely confused. "So you're saying, what? That Hayden's a –"

"I think Hayden's a vampire."


	4. Chapter 4: Bad Reputation

"_You know the time and place is right, it's time to leave all adversity behind."_

_Bring Change – Six60_

* * *

><p>Elena had hung up the phone and turned to be greeted by Stefan, inches from her. "Did you hear that?"<p>

"That Hayden could be a vampire?" He asked, a culpable look on his face, "Yeah, I did."

She sat on her bed, and took a deep breath. _That couldn't be true, could it? Hayden, a vampire?_ Elena was so sure that her friend was human, but then she remembered she didn't find out about Stefan until later. Hayden could very well be hiding the secret.

"Listen," he ran his fingers through her hair, massaging her back, "I don't think we should worry about it, until we know for sure. I've only met Hayden once but from what I can tell, if she is a vampire then she is under control of it. She isn't our number one priority if she isn't causing anyone any harm. Finding the Grimoire before Damon however, is."

She nodded her head, they had a busy night ahead of them, and it mightn't have even been true, Bonnie's feelings might have been off.

"You're right. So what did you find?"

Hayden had numerous drinks before she decided she was too leave, have something to eat and then sober up before bed. So she wouldn't wake up with a hang over and then not go to school again. She didn't know Mystic Falls high school very well, so she didn't know how they treated truancy.

She had paid her tab, and slipped on her jacket when she saw Bonnie bolting for the back door, and when she was taken by her date, dragged the rest of the way and his red, veiny eyes. The same eyes Hayden's mother possessed when she first caught a whiff of Hayden's blood.

Pushing through the crowd, Hayden ran to the back door as fast as she could in her semi-drunken state. Breaking through the door and into the back alley, she checked each way before hearing some car doors opening. She ran, out onto the main road where she saw Bonnie being put in the boot of a car by her date, Ben.

Running to her car, she made sure to hop in quietly, and started it up, keeping the headlights off. She waited three seconds after Ben left before she followed suit.

_What the fuck was this shit? Bonnie getting kidnapped by her fucking date._Hayden thought she left this shit when she left Auckland and its criminal underworld. It seems like her parent's kind followed Hayden wherever she went.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," Hayden cussed the whole time she was tailing this Ben character, all the way to a dingy little motel on the edge of town. She parked on the opposite side of the road of the motel, and had a perfect view of the car park and Ben pulling Bonnie from the trunk of the car, who was visibly unconscious.

Hayden grabbed her metal baseball bat she left in car for whatever situation that would need a baseball bat arose. She had always been a paranoid sort of person.

Getting out of her car quietly, and pocketing her keys, she ran up to Ben as fast as she could, who was busy cradling Bonnie in his arms and trying to unlock the front door of his room. She swung the metal bat as fast and hard as she could, and the man fell to the ground in entropy. Quickly gathering Bonnie in her arms, Hayden slapped her friends face lightly, trying to wake the girl up.

Too preoccupied to hear Ben getting up behind her, "Wrong move, sweetheart." Hayden was smacked over the head with her own weapon.

She didn't know how long it had been, but Hayden awoke to a damp cloth being pressed to her head, and some soft whispering, "Hayden, wake up."

She opened her eyes to see Bonnie and Elena standing over, confused and bleeding. They had spent the time Hayden was knocked out to talk about the Grimoire and their capture, and even about Hayden if she was truly human.

"Hayden, what are you doing here?"

Her eyes squinted at the brightness of the light illuminating the room, which wasn't bright at all, "I was saving Bonnie."

"What? How did you know where I was?"

"I saw you get kidnapped and followed you here, I was at the Grill remember?"

Bonnie and Elena sent each other a look, like they were internally debating something. "Hayden," Elena patted Hayden's head, "I'm going to ask you something. Are you a vampire?"

"What?" Hayden's eyes widened, "How do you know?"

"So you are?" Elena's eyes widened and Bonnie backed away.

"No!" Hayden yelled, but then winced at the pounding headache she occupied, "My parent's are. I'm not."

"Ruth? Ruth is a vampire?"

Ben busted through the door before any of the girls could reply to Elena.

"I'm not going to help you," Bonnie replied out of nowhere and Hayden was far more than confused but assumed it was because of a loss of blood, which was now all matted in her hair, dried in clumps.

Ben only gave a sadistic laugh, walking through the small bathroom over to where the three of them cowered and grabbed Elena, putting her underneath his arm, "That's why she's here." He grabbed Hayden, who was still half conscious, by her hair and pulled her towards him as well, "And Hayden, well, she's just an added bonus. They're motivation for you to behave. You know, you shouldn't be so desperate. You made it too easy."

Hayden's hair was discarded and he gripped Elena's arms in his hands, pushing her out of the bathroom before slamming the door. "She wants to talk to you."

Bonnie in the bathtub, but the plug while Hayden was half lying down at the other end; she was still confused. "What the fuck is going on, Bonnie?"

"I'm a witch."

Hayden only groaned, "Is no one in this fucking town normal?"

Bonnie then explained why all three of them had been captured, all about the vampires in the tomb and Emily's Grimoire, all under the watchful gaze of Ben. The whole story reminded Hayden of her ring, and how she was practically invincible with it. With the blow to head she had received from Ben earlier while she was trying to save Bonnie, she guessed that the ring had already come in handy, and it gave her an idea. It hand only been a couple of minutes before knocking on the door ensued and Ben grabbed both Bonnie and Hayden by their arms and pulled them from the bathroom into the main room where two beds and a TV sat. Bonnie walked with practically free-will, while Hayden had to be carried as she couldn't control her limbs properly. She thought that maybe if she pretended to be weaker than she actually was, then she wasn't going to be considered as a threat, which meant she could do certain things without being watched as carefully.

"Keep the two of them buttoned down. Compulsion won't work." Hayden's eyes drifted up to see a young girl, her age maybe younger giving orders to the vampire Ben. "Just use violence."

Bonnie and Hayden were thrown onto the bed, although Hayden's muscles couldn't hold herself up and she fell to the ground in a heap, a slight groan escaping her lips.

"Hayden!" Elena yelled and fell to the ground beside her friend, "Are you okay?"

But there was no answer, Hayden pretended to be unconscious, her eyes closed, her mouth open. "Hayden! Hayden, wake up!"

"What did you do to her?" Bonnie looked over at Ben, who only gestured to the bat in the corner of the room, covered in blood. "Oh my god."

Ben looked uncomfortable. _What was to happen if one of the girls died? He had hit her pretty hard, and he didn't want Anna to be angry at him again._

He walked over to the girl on the floor, and tapped her lightly with his foot, "Hey, wake up."

Hayden's eyes burst open, and she threw her leg out, delivering a swift, hard kick to the mans thigh, and she heard a loud resounding snap. His screams could be heard and Hayden jumped up as fast as she could, and climbed on top of him, punching in the head as many times as she could before he grabbed her hands and snarled.

_This was it,_ she thought, _she was going to die again._

The door to the motel room hit the wall as it opened with vigour, and Hayden watched as the man beneath her screamed in anguish and pushed her off him, scrambling to get away from the sun. Hayden watched as Stefan appeared at the doorway, pushing open the curtain. "Elena, Bonnie, get Hayden and get out!"

Hayden felt her arms being lifted up and she was carried outside.

Hayden drove straight home after the whole ordeal, she didn't even wait for Stefan to come out of the room, she just hopped in her car and left. The whole reason Hayden had agreed to leave Auckland was because of all her mother's supernatural friends, she had simply wanted to get away and live a normal life.

She remembered the looks on Bonnie and Elena faces, though she couldn't pinpoint what they meant. Julian didn't say anything when she walked through the door, bloodied and ripped clothes, and she appreciated that. Usually, if parents didn't see their kids all night and then halfway through the next day they would loose their shit, but Jules always had an understanding with his employer and knew she would tell him if she wanted too.

She had gone straight to the fridge where some of Ruth's blood was kept; strictly only for emergency's and Hayden, along with Julian thought this was one of those times. The wound on the back of her head cleared almost immediately and she ran to the shower so she could rid herself of the day's events; the dried blood matted in her hair, the ripped clothes and blood on the front of her shirt.

Hayden wasn't the type of person to cry about what happened, her death and resurrection, her being pushed around and abused. She had suffered through things far scarier and far more life-altering than a couple of rebel vamps in a motel bathroom.

"Miss Hayden," Julian came into the living room, and he stretched his arm out to her, holding a glass of neat whiskey, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine."

"Would you be up to visitors?"

She furrowed her eyebrows and looked up at the elderly man in front of her. "A Master Salvatore is here to see you, along with Miss Gilbert, they're in the foyer."

Had seeing them only yesterday not been enough for them? She sighed, nodded her head and signalled for Julian to let them into the sitting room.

"Hayden," Elena fell into view in the archway of the hallway, "I'm so sorry."

Hayden had to smirk at her friend, and her friend's boyfriend. "Why are you sorry? It's not your fault."

"It kinda is, in some way. I'm caught up in this mess which means all my friends, all of my family; all the people I love are caught up in this mess as well."

"Elena," Hayden had to stop her friends rambling, "I've been through worse. Yesterday, it was nothing. Sit down, calm down."

A smile, a genuine smile claimed Elena's lips and it was the first one in a long time, she did as her friend said, but not before hugging her.

"You too, Stefan." Hayden smiled and gestured to the couch that Elena was sitting on, that was opposite the chair she herself was sitting in. "You guys want a drink?" She didn't wait for an answer, just looked at Julian and he nodded his head, leaving the room.

"So…" Hayden looked down at the glass in her hand, a took a large sip, "You're a vampire, Stefan."

"I am," he nodded his head once and his eyebrows furrowed, "Elena mentioned to me that both of your parent's are vampires."

"Yep."

"Miss Gilbert, Master Salvatore," Julian passed them two crystal glasses with whiskey and then left the room.

"Dad was changed about…" Hayden paused to think properly, "three hundred years ago, and mum about six."

There was a pause, before Elena and Stefan looked at each other and then back at Hayden, who know had no liquor in her glass. "If you're father is over three hundred years old then I'm assuming he isn't your biological father?"

Hayden, who was looking down at her glass, smirked, "I was a … supernatural miracle."

"You're a –"

"Vampire-human hybrid. Yeah."

There was a silence in the room, before Stefan spoke up, "You're father, he wouldn't have to be Alexei Romanov, would he?"

Hayden nodded. "Why?"

"I met him, your father, in the 1930s while I was in London, yeah. He owned a large mansion on the outskirts of town, and he let all of our kind board there to be safe from the sun, but your father, he had a ring, just like mine. It's amazing, you … you look so much like him."

Hayden had to scoff, "Yeah that's him." She had always resented her father. She had heard hundreds, literally hundreds of stories about him. About how kind and giving he was, how such an amazing being he was, yet, he couldn't spare a day of his immortal life for his daughter; his flesh and blood.

"So being a…" Elena struggled with the word, "Hybrid, do you have any vampire attributes?"

Hayden shrugged, and called out for Julian to bring her a refill before answering, "Yeah, uhm, I can't be compelled, I heal quicker than the average human, but no where near as quick at the rate a vampire does, my emotions and hunger is magnified, the sun hurts my eyes but other than that nothing."

"And by hunger you mean…?"

"Food, Elena. No blood."

"And you are the only hybrid you know of?"

Julian entered the sitting room once more, with a large bottle of whiskey, and filled her glass before going to leave once more but Hayden stopped him, "Julian, am I the only hybrid we know of?"

He stopped to think before nodding his head, "I think so, Miss Hayden, living at least."

"Julian, he knows?" Stefan held a look of confusion on his face, watching as the old British man left the room.

"He's been my caregiver for sixteen years; he knows everything about my lineage."

The three of them sat in the sitting room, talking for the next hour and a half, about Elena's life, Stefan's life and even more of Hayden's. She found out that Elena was in fact adopted, and was researching her birth mother, trying to find out more about it. Stefan was trying to look after his brother, Damon (who was also a vampire) getting over a major heartbreak after searching 145 years for a woman who as it turns out, didn't want to be found.

After bidding goodbye to Elena and Stefan, Hayden was half drunk and realised she didn't want to drink alone in the confines of her mother's mansion. So, driving to the Mystic Grill, Hayden headed straight to the bar asked for a whiskey, neat.

She wanted to feel the burn as it slipped smoothly down her throat.

"Whiskey and neat?" Damon's voice came from beside Hayden and she saw him sitting by himself, same drink in hand, "I knew I liked you."

Hayden rolled her eyes, but couldn't help the smirk from gracing her lips. After everything she heard about him from her little talk with Elena and Stefan today, she knew she should have stayed away, but she just couldn't. He was heartbroken, and she knew he didn't have any friends. Maybe that was what he needed? A drinking friend?

"One in the afternoon and drinking? Don't you have school?" He smiled and sat down in a chair next to her.

"Probably," She downed the whiskey in one gulp and signalled for another. "But, uh, I never really was the school type of girl."

"I see, and what type of girl would you be then?"

Her bottom lip stuck out a pout as she thought about it, "The kind of girl who knows."

"Mhmm," He sounded interested, "Knows what?"

She turned, sipping at her drink, "That you're a vampire."

He looked about ready to snap her neck, right there and then, but she provided a smirk. "Relax, Stefan told me. Not that he should have had to, my mother is a vampire after all."

His shoulders relaxed and his eyebrows un-furrowed, "I see. I heard you were trapped in that little mishap yesterday, along with Elena and that witch."

"Yeah, a bat to the head is what happens when you try to save someone, huh?"

He whistled, "A bat to the head? And you're here? Drinking? Impressed."

"Thank-you," her glass met Damon's in a toast and the two of them sipped their drinks.

Hayden could count how many more drinks the two of them downed and how long they were their, but by the amount of people sitting down to eat with their families suggested it somewhere around seven, and Damon and Hayden still hadn't run out of things to talk about.

"Have you ever been in love?" He was clearly drunk and the two of them were practically sitting in each others laps, still drinking.

Hayden nodded her head, her eyes half closed in her drunken stupor, "I have. You?"

"Oh, I was so bent over on someone, but she just ripped my heart out."

Hayden had a genuine sad look on her face, "I'm sorry. I really am."

He looked down at her, "You really mean it."

She nodded her head and wrapped his arm in a hug, "I do."

"What happened to your true love?"

Hayden sighed loudly, and downed the rest of her drink, before leaning into Damon, whispering, "He died."

"Ouch."

"Yeah."

"How'd he die?"

"Well," Hayden smirked bitterly, "Turns out my dad doesn't approve of me dating."

Damon gave a large, drunken gasp, "Your dad murdered your boyfriend?"

Hayden nodded her head, "Yeah, he's a vampire too, so killing someone who is fucking his little girl kinda gets his goat."

Damon looked confused in his drunken daze, "Both of your parents are vampires?"

Hayden caught her lip in between her teeth, realising that she may have given her secret away. "Yeah, both turned in the last couple of years."

"Damn. Doesn't sound like too much fun."

"On the contrary," Hayden smirked, quickly leaning into Damon, her lips awfully close to his, their noses brushing, "I have the house to myself all the time, which is very fun."

"Mhm," He licked his lips, looking at her plush, pink ones, "I say we blow this joint."

And blow the joint they did. Deciding to ride in Hayden's car, they were before her house in minutes, especially with her reckless, drunken driving.

"This is your house?" Damon looked at the large mansion before him, and he had admit, it was pretty big.

Walking through the door, and into the foyer, Hayden removed her leather jacket and shoes, before turning around to see Damon, bottle of whiskey from the bar, in hand and standing at the doorway, waiting for an invitation.

Biting her lip, Hayden sauntered over to him, she watched him at the doorway, drinking. "Wanna come in?"

"Yeah." He nodded his head, just looking at her lips made him lick his by instinct.

"Please come in." He smirked, stepping through the entrance, he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her flush against his body, his lips crashing against hers.

Here she was, kissing Damon Salvatore; heart broken wreck in her hallway when everyone she had come across blatantly told her to stay away. Why wasn't she listing to them?

_Because you're drunk,_ her mind told her. And she had to laugh. She was talking to herself.

"What's so funny?" He pulled away from her, sipping from the bottle.

She only shook her head and was about to press her lips against his once more before a voice stopped them.

"Miss Hayden, you're home, sorry for bothering you," Julian blushed and left the hall and walked into the kitchen.

"You have a butler?" Damon asked in amazement and Hayden only giggled. Gripping his hand in hers she dragged him up the stairs and towards her bedroom, where she pushed him down on the bed.

He gripped her thigh in his and spun them over in a second, him straddling her, his lips found hers in a frenzy, and his tongue grazed her bottom lip, which she only bit it and allowed him access. This was Damon Salvatore; amazing kisser and heartbroken drinker? What had everyone so petrified? His kisses were addictive and delicious, which only made her want him more.

Hayden's hands pulled at the hair at the nape of his neck as his hands ghosted over her stomach underneath her shirt. A loud moan escaped her lips as his hands gripped her breasts through her bra.

"This needs to come off," His lips left hers for only a second, so he could her shirt over her head. His lips found her neck and trailed kisses down her chest and down her stomach. His hands gripped at the button and zipper on her jeans and teasingly, he pulled them off her hips to reveal matching underwear.

In his admiring gaze, Hayden used his lack of attention to flip them over, her hips straddling his waist, and in passion, ripped his shirt open, buttons flying everywhere. Damon only smirked, leaning back with his arm propped under his head like a pillow as he watched Hayden kiss his chest.

What was with this girl? Vampire parents, living all alone in a house with butler, and best friends with Elena. He couldn't help but think that Hayden was most definitely better than the annoying blonde and the witch.

Hayden had just finished unbuttoning Damon's jeans with her teeth when a loud knock sounded on her door.

"Hayden, you in there?" It was Elena.

"Shit," Hayden swore quietly and got up off her bed, grabbing Damon's shirt she threw it at him, and pulled him up from the bed. "Yeah! Hold on! Just getting changed."

Damon only smirked at Hayden's attempt to get rid of him, and he lay back down on the bed, his arm behind his head.

"I am not even kidding right now," Hayden pulled at his free arm but it did nothing, whispering, "They told me to stay away from you!"

He gripped her arm in his hand and pulled her down on top of him, "Let her find us. It would be so much easier if you didn't fight it."

His arm wrapped around her waist, keeping her pinned against him, "Come in!"

Elena didn't even realise it was a boys voice as she opened the double oak doors and walked into the large room, not until she saw Hayden on top of Damon, both of them half naked.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she looked away and her arms awkwardly crossed over her chest.

"Elena!" Hayden struggled to free herself from Damon's iron grip, standing up, and falling over her clumsy, drunk feet, she eventually found her way over to her friend, "What's up?"

"I was just, uh," she looked her friend in the eyes, trying to not cast them down, "Wondering if you wanted to talk, hang out or something, but clearly you are busy so I will just leave now."

"No!" Hayden gripped her friends arms in her hands and smiled a thousand watt smile, "I would love to hang out! – Damon, fuck off."

"Or maybe…" He patted the bed next to him and his eyebrows raised, eyes casting towards the two girls in front of him.

Hayden's mouth was agape and she grabbed the thing nearest to her, which was a shoe, and she threw it at his head, which he caught with ease. "I am serious. Leave."

And he was gone with a gust of wind, out the window, his clothes gone with him, and Hayden sighed in happiness before turning to her friend. "Now, let me get some clothes on, I'll get Julian to make us some iced chocolates and we can watch a movie."


	5. Chapter 5: Long Gone Day

Chapter four:

'_Watching you dress as you turn down the light, I forget all about the storm outside'_

_Brandon Flowers – Crossfire_

Iced chocolates were made; with fresh cream and home made melted chocolate. Romeo and Juliet was placed in the DVD player so the two girls could glance at Leonardo DiCaprio's gorgeous young looks as they talked about life.

"Hayden…" Elena's head bowed, in an almost shaming way, and she struggled to find the right words. "With Damon—"

"Don't worry; I was drunk, it won't happen again."

"No, it's not that, its just… you've invited him in, now he will come and go as he pleases and he has these moods, that… I just want you to be safe."

She shrugged her shoulders. Did Hayden really mind that? Damon coming and going as he pleased? If it meant she would get sex and company; then not really. Hayden needed those two things to survive, and if it meant he was going to give them to her then so be it. As long as he didn't try and kill her.

"See this ring?" Hayden gestured to the gaudy snake ring on her left ring finger, "My dad's wife enchanted it for me; she's a witch." Elena inspected the ring closely, Hayden's warm hand in her cold one. "It protects me from dying. I don't know how it works, but I know it just does."

Elena looked up into her friend's hazel eyes, "…You've died before?"

"I died when that Ben guy delivered a steel bat to the back of my head. It was why you and Bonnie couldn't wake me up in the bathtub."

Elena was up off the bed and walking the length of the room, her fingers tugging at her hair, "Oh my god, Hayden, this is just… too weird."

"Yeah, but," she nodded her head in agreement before getting up off the bed, "This is a good thing too. It's nice to tell people about this stuff, my lineage, everything."

"All these years, whenever I would think about you, our memories and us meeting up together again, what kind of stuff we would do when we travelled the world together; I always thought you were normal. That you had a normal life – well, as normal as your life could be with your mother in New Zealand – but it turns out you didn't. And now it turns out that my life is anything but normal. And through all of this, I'm just kinda…" Elena struggled to find the right words, "Happy. Happy that I have my best going through what I'm going through. Because it's kind of nice to know I will always have you to talk to."

"What else are friends for, right?"

Hayden's knuckles wrapped on the door to the Salvatore boarding house. She stood outside for a good minute before her already short patience wore too thin and she jiggled the door handle. Her dark brown eyebrows furrowed as she pushed the door open and closed it behind her. Who the hell would leave their door open? _Vampires_, she reminded herself, and she rolled her eyes.

"Yo! Anyone home?"

After Elena and Hayden's talk the previous night, the two had finally fallen asleep in the wee hours of the morning. It wasn't until Julian was picking up clothes to put in the wash when he found Damon's belt. He offered to return it via mail or even himself but Hayden said she would do it.

"Damo!" She cringed. What, she already had a nickname for him? They hadn't even slept together yet.

Well, nearly, but still.

She got a good look around the hallway and living room of the Salvatore boarding house. It was a lot like her house except Hayden had Julian, who actually cleaned and dusted on a regular basis. This looked like two vampires lived here; it didn't look like any living human entity resided in the house.

"Well, well, well," Hayden's head turned violently to see Damon coming down the stairs, no shirt on, "Look who is back for round two."

She scoffed, "You know it doesn't technically count as round two if round one hasn't even taken place."

"_Touché_."

She bowed, "Thank you. I'll be here all week."

He walked into the living room, Hayden following behind him. "So why are you here then?" He reached the drinks cabinet and poured two glasses of whiskey, passing one to his guest. "If it's not for 'round two.'"

Pulling Damon's rolled up belt from her back pocket; she threw it onto the coffee table in front of her as she fell back into the couch. "Versace. Nice. Didn't think you were _that_conceited."

He smirked, sitting in the chair opposite the couch; he saw her eyes drifting down his chest. "Says the girl wearing a vintage Rolex."

She looked down at the watch on her left wrist. A peace offering from her father.

"'_Touché,'_" Hayden mocked and sipped at her drink. "How you holding up?"

Damon's eyes searched hers for a second, before deciding to play dumb, "I don't know what you're referring to."

"Elena told me about Katherine."

His smirk was bitter now, "Of course she did."

"She's worried for you, Damon. So is Stefan."

"Yeah? Well they don't need to be worried about me. I'm over it, she wasn't in there, she never cared about me, she never did. She had 145 years to find me."

The conversation had taken a serious turn, Damon's eyes were dark and his face set with a fury that Hayden never wanted to come across. She hadn't known him that long, but she felt that with everything Elena had told her about him, she had known him her whole life.

She wasn't mad at him for trying to kill Bonnie while she was possessed by Emily, not for killing and turning Vicki – who in Hayden's books deserved nearly everything she got by the way she treated Jeremy – in her own messed up way, Hayden understood why he did it. He was trying to get what he wanted, who he wanted. His love of 145 years. He just wanted Katherine back, and now she wasn't to be found? Hayden couldn't imagine the hurt he was going through. And she forgave him, for everything that he did and everything he might do in the future, because no one could recover properly from a heartbreak like that.

They stared at each other, just drinking and revelling in the silence that came with each other's company. Finally, Hayden broke the silence, "Get your shirt on, Romeo, I'll drive you to the Grill."

His eyebrows rose, "You heard. Will you be buying a ticket then? Trying to get a date with good, ol' sexy me."

She only laughed. It was true, Carol Lockwood had just tried to sell her a raffle ticket earlier that day when she went to pick up lunch from the Grill. Asking who the eligible bachelors were, she recited the list and Hayden only laughed in her face before leaving. Like Damon was 'eligible'.

His fingers danced across his torso and Hayden watched with amusement, "Why would I pay when I can get you for free?"

"'_Touché_.'"

Hayden hadn't been in town long, but she was surprised when she entered the Grill since it seemed to be at capacity. She sat down next to Elena and Jenna after getting a drink and spent most of the night happy; content with her life and the point at where she was.

Sure, most things supernatural seemed to follow her wherever she went, but Hayden had Elena to talk to now. She didn't have to live in secrecy with her friends or her old hometown. All she really ever had was Julian and now it felt good to be back with Elena. It felt good to have a friend again.

At least, it was all good until Damon opened his mouth.

Hayden watched as the exchange was made between Alaric and Damon, the latter blatantly rubbing it in his face that his wife had been murdered. Little did Damon know that Isobel – Alaric's wife – had actually in fact been Elena's birth mother.

Jenna asked Elena if she was okay before she quickly left the table in tears. "What was that about?"

"Don't worry, I got it," Hayden pushed Elena's aunt into her chair slightly and followed after her. After fighting her way through the crowd, she spotted Elena in tears outside, Stefan trying to console her.

"He killed her?" Elena's asked, "Damon was the vampire that killed her?"

"I don't know, they never found the body."

A sob wracked Elena's body, "Oh my god." Hayden made her presence known by hugging her.

"I know, I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you I just – I wanted to know more."

"I was feeling sorry for him," Elena looked down into Hayden's hazel orbs, "Hoping that this whole Katherine thing would change him. I'm so stupid."

Stefan's head shook, "He doesn't know the connection to you, I thought about confronting him but –"

"Why are you protecting him!"

"You weren't the only one hoping that he might have actually changed."


	6. Chapter 6: For Reasons Unknown

_"Don't care just how she ran it, tell her I'm from another planet, I just wanna get down in the back of the restaurant."_

_Back of the Restaurant – The Checks_

* * *

><p>A loud snicker escaped Hayden's lips before it was replaced with a loud laugh, "Yeah, okay, good luck with that."<p>

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Hayden put her roast chicken, cranberry sauce and brie salad sandwich down that Julian had prepared that morning and she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, "This is Caroline and Matt, and it's a double date. I mean, 'good luck with that' as in, there is going to be so much drama you won't even be able to think about the word 'fun' let alone partake in its joyous event."

Stefan stifled a laugh at his girlfriend's best friend, watching her once again stuff her face with more food. And for a second he almost thought he had forgotten about what he had to say to her, something he needed to talk to her about that was already breaking the 'fun' conduct.

Sending a look towards Elena, she almost shook her head, trying to signal that this wasn't the right time. Elena didn't want to mess her relationship up with Hayden, not when Bonnie had been AWOL and Caroline had been going steady with Matt. Hayden was the only somewhat stable friendship she had at the moment and she would have not rather jeopardized it.

"Hayden, I was wondering if I could have a word to you actually, on a more serious note."

Putting her food down once more, she sighed and cussed softly under her breath, although even Elena had heard it. Instead, Stefan continued, "Whatever you may have done or are planning on doing with my brother, I just think it would be better for you if you stopped. He's dangerous and like Elena explained, heartbroken and those two along with Damon just don't mix."

"Really?" She looked at his brown eyes and then looked at her friend's, hoping for support of some sort but there was nothing, "_Look, I may not know Damon that well, but I understand that he's heartbroken. Yes, he may be reckless, but he just wants someone to talk to, no, he needs someone to talk to. Someone he doesn't know and isn't involved in this mess where he can just take a load off his shoulders and let everything go."_

That's what Hayden wanted to say, but she found her lips weren't moving, and she was slightly grateful. Because she hardly knew them, knew him, and she didn't want to get caught up in anymore mess with boys.

She plastered a large, fake smile on her face, "I don't even know Damon, but I do know that I don't want to get involved with his mess. There's literally nothing going on, any sort of relationship between the two of us that you might think exist, is totally nonexistent."

"Hayden," Elena choose to speak up, "We're just making sure."

"I know, I know," she smiled once more, grabbing her books she got up off the bench and bid them farewell, "You guys are just looking out for me, and I appreciate that, but, I gotta go."

Hayden understood that Elena had been going through a lot, they talked on the phone the night before about how Bonnie had been ignoring her and blatantly talking to Caroline. She just wanted her to understand that she wasn't stupid, and that she wasn't about to fall for whatever insanely charming allure Damon seemed to possess. Hayden had told Stefan and her about her past, about her heritage – as much as she wanted to anyway – and what annoyed her the most was that Elena cared. It was like she didn't have faith that she could protect herself, because she had lived practically alone for six years now, she had dealt with a lot of stuff by herself, things that Elena couldn't even possibly fathom.

Annoyed at herself for leaving without her lunch, Hayden decided that there was no way in hell that she would be able to concentrate on class now, and throwing her books in her locker she grabbed her keys and made her way to the student parking lot.

* * *

><p>Damon had spent the earlier part of the day following Hayden's butler, Julian, around. He found the old man peculiar and if he was going to try find a way into her house to surprise her, then he needed to know his schedule. Parking his car down the street, he watched Hayden leave for school and then walked up to her house through the surrounding forest, and stayed on the outskirts, listening to him for hours on end.<p>

Damon was a little disappointed at how little happened, nothing but cleaning and cooking, washing some clothes, he even wrote a few letters in the study before he did anything remotely interesting.

Julian grabbed a small pre-pay cell phone from the locked section of the desk, and dialed a number before bringing it to his ear.

"Master Romanov, yes, she is at school," He nodded his head and waited a couple of seconds, "Not much, sir, which is good news. She had a friend over but he wasn't anything special. Ruth called checking in, but other than that, no one has paid much attention to her."

Damon hadn't fed in over a day, so his senses weren't as good as they could have been, so he had to settle for Julian's one sided conversation. His brows furrowed at the conversation, and Damon wondered why he was calling and checking in with who he assumed to be her father. And why did he want to know who was paying attention to her?

And then it hit him like a ton of bricks. He remembered the drunken conversation that the two of them shared the other night, about her father and how he had apparently killed her last boyfriend. He wondered what kind of fucked up family this girl had, and why he was so interested.

"I will do, sir, okay, goodbye."

Watching for only another hour, Damon heard a roar of an engine fly up the drive and he noticed Hayden's car park around the fountain. Peering at his watch, he noticed that school wasn't out yet, and in fact, would have only been in their lunch break before he decided that spying on Hayden was going to be a whole horse of different colour.

Something he didn't want to get involved in at all unless he was getting sex and or blood from.

Heading back home, Damon walked through the front door of the boarding house with a loud sigh, when he realized he wasn't alone. Sauntering into the living room, he saw Pearl leaning against his favorite chair, her back towards him.

"Hello, Damon."

"Ever hear of knocking?"

"An invitation wasn't necessary." Turning around, Pearl walked closer towards him, Anna on her tail, "I'm surprised that no living person resides here. Is it just you and your brother?"

Not really feeling at all up to visitors, Damon shrugged his shoulders with a small smile.

"How do you keep out unwelcome vampires?"

"Kill them," with another shrug of his shoulder signifying his cavalier persona, he flew over to pearl and wrapped his long fingers around her neck, squeezing with all his vampire might. Although, Pearl who was calm as ever, just grabbed his hand and gripped it with as much force she could be bothered mustering, and Damon groaned in pain.

Pushing him down on to the ground, his back fell against the couch, "Have a seat, Damon. I was hoping to have a word."

* * *

><p>"Julian!" Hayden entered the house and threw her stuff onto the table in the foyer, "I'm home!"<p>

"In the kitchen, Miss Romanov!"

Following his voice to through the house, she came to sit in front of him preparing beef and pastry. Leaning against the breakfast bar, she peeked at her watch on her wrist and she felt herself sigh. She had left school earlier than she thought. The days spent here in Mystic Falls seemed to pass slower than she would have preferred, and Hayden found herself already despising this town and all their supernatural beings.

"You're home early from school."

"Yeah, Elena and Stefan kinda got on my nerves a little today."

"Oh?" Julian placed a glass tumbler in front of her, and just when she was about to get excited about whiskey, he filled it with juice, "Miss Romanov, it's barely the afternoon."

With a dismissive wave of her hand she nodded her head. "Don't worry about it, I need to stop anyway."

Stellan had been with the Romanov family for many years now, and he hated watching Hayden follow in her parent's foot-steps. The both of them were firm alcoholics, although sometimes Julian wondered if such a thing could become of vampires and even of a hybrid. "What did your friends say to have you so upset?"

About to say 'Damon' and explain everything to her little cold, dark heart's desire, Hayden realized her mistake and sipped her drink. "Ugh, just a few things. Telling me to stay away from that guy I had here, you remember?"

"Oh," he nodded his head and chopped some more vegetables, "Did he have anything to do with you coming home the other day all beaten and bloodied?"

Hayden froze mid sip, and looked up to her butler and best friend, half with confusion and half in wonder. Confusion because he had always seemed to trust her decisions and her actions, so why would he be asking now? What had changed? And half in wonder, because she never, ever, had heard Julian asked what she had been up to in such a prying way. Regardless, Hayden thought that there wasn't any harm in explaining what happened.

"I have this friend Bonnie, and she went on this date with this guy who turned out to be a vampire. I was at the Mystic Grill when I saw her get kidnapped and I tried to save her only I got kidnapped too, long story short; I think the ring my dad gave me saved my life that night."

"What about your mother's ring? The one she had blessed for you?"

"It's around here somewhere," Hayden shrugged her shoulders. She was ten when her mother first started leaving her alone and it was then Ruth gave her daughter the ruby ring that had been blessed by herself especially for Hayden. Her mother, before she had been made vampire, had come from a line of powerful Bulgarian witches, which on top of everything, Hayden was glad that she hadn't shown any signs of such powers. She couldn't have been able to handle with that as well. However, it was for her thirteenth birthday did her father give her a ring that his new wife – who too was a witch – had made especially for her as well. She was starting to wonder if her father had a type. "I don't know, I guess when it comes down to it I might hate Stellan less than I hate Ruth."

And there it was, what Julian was looking for. "I've been talking to your father. He wants to make sure that you're okay, especially in a small town full of vampires."

"What?"

"He's even thinking of coming home, just for a while, to apologize and make sure everything is okay. Before Ruth gets back."

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Hayden-"

"You said no, right? I don't want him here, I don't want fucking Ruth here either!"

"Your relationship with your mother and father isn't healthy; you need more than just me as a parental figure. You need your own blood to talk to and respect."

"No!" She shook her head and stood up, a rage burned in her eyes and Julian noticed her cheeks flushing, "I don't fucking need them! At all!" Hayden didn't want to see her father let alone her mother. She liked being alone. She was just built that way, as long as she had money she didn't need family. She preferred her own company and Julian's of course. "I can't believe you, I thought you understood."

She didn't leave any time for Julian to speak as she left the kitchen and ran up to her room. Slamming the door behind her, she sat down on her bed, her leg bopping up and down in a trial of anger. How dare he? She wasn't angry at Julian per-say, more at the situation she was no doubt about to be put in; either her father or mother coming home. She knew that neither would be here at the same time, the two of them hated each other too much for that and wouldn't come together even for their daughters 'safety'.

She had spent so long not talking to her father that she had in some way, forgiven him. He had some weird, fucked up reasoning to his actions, he was after all born from another time, and Hayden had always noticed that Stellan had trouble adjusting to the changes of the century. He had to learn that killing his daughter's boyfriend was not acceptable in the 21st century. Not even if he was poison to her, literally.

Hayden was dating Luther back in Auckland, and they had been officially together for only a week before her father showed up out of nowhere and in total surprise – especially since Hayden was led to believe he was in Europe – and killed Luther. He was a werewolf, whose curse had been triggered when she had first arrived in the city. She mourned for a few weeks, as anyone would, but there was a part of her that still hardly knew him, who didn't really care for him. Despite it, she was distraught over seeing the murder and in an act of rage, told her father that she never wanted to see him again even if he was saving her life.

Stellan tried explaining that he was simply trying to keep his daughter safe. As a hybrid he didn't know for sure if his bite was fatal to her like bites from werewolves are normally to humans. Stellan didn't want to wait for a full moon in order to find out whether his daughter was going to be safe or not. Certainly not for a boy she hardly cared about.

But with her move back to Mystic Falls, Stellan had been a little more on edge, he knew the Falls very well, and in his centuries of existence he knew a fair share of vampires, vampires that a human hybrid should definitely not be affiliated with.

Grinding her teeth, Hayden tried swallowing the anger and fury that bubbled up within her. Shaking her head, she knew herself, and knew what she needed. She wasn't going to calm down sitting in her room and stewing in her own anger, thinking of things to say and do to fix her problem, no, she needed a whiskey and a cigarette.

Throwing off her t-shirt, she replaced it with a white v-neck and threw on a long, black scarf. Grabbing her phone and wallet, and knowing her car keys were in the dish by the front door, she flew down the stairs, not stopping for Julian's calls. With a loud roar, her car came to life and she flew down the drive way and towards the only place she knew she would be able to get a drink so early in the morning; the supermarket.

Grabbing a bottle of Glenfiddich whiskey, which was locked in a clear shelf in the liquor aisle, she made her way to the counter and asked for a 25 pack of red Marlboros and a lighter. Making her way to the closest lake she could, she grabbed all her belongings and jumped out of her car and situated herself on the hood comfortably. It emitted comfortable warmth that she was without since she wasn't wearing her leather jacket.

Pulling a cigarette from the pack, she placed it between her pink lips and lit the end. Inhaling a deep, smoky breath, her muscles relaxed and she felt herself grow faint headed. Rolling her eyes in delight, she immediately took another drag.

* * *

><p>"We've taken up residence at a farmhouse just outside of town. It'll suffice for now."<p>

"All 25 vampires?" Damon tried to remain cavalier but it was hard.

"Not all, some. I imagine that a few have already left town. Others are probably still in the woods, or like us, acclimating."

"How'd they get out of the tomb?"

Anna used this question to butt in; speak her worth, "I think the witch screwed up that part of her hocus pocus."

"I understand from Anna that the founding families still have a secret council?"

Once again, Anna tried to prove her worth, "And you're a part of it."

"Pfft. That is ridiculous."

Anna rolled her eyes, "I've been in Mystic Falls since the comet, I'm up to speed."

"And now so am I. And now that you've infiltrated the council, I need to know everything they know, starting with a list of the members and their families."

"And everyone you've supplied with vervain."

"Yes, that will have to stop immediately. Along with your friendship with that Romanov girl."

"Hayden?" It was Damon's turn to prove his worth, "She means nothing, there is no friendship. What exactly are you trying to achieve?"

Pearl was growing anxious, angry, but she was so refined no one would have noticed, "Mystic Falls is our home, Damon. They took that from us. Our land, our home. It's time we rebuild."

"What, are you crazy? That was 1864. Wake up, woman. The world has moved on."

"As a reward for your help, I'm willing to give you what you want most."

"I want nothing –"

"Katherine." The room went silent. Damon, who had been acting so cavalier, let a smile grace his face, although he wanted nothing more than to know where she was, he knew that playing it cool was only going to do him good.

"I no longer have any desire to see Katherine ever again. And there's no way in hell I'm gonna play the role of your little minion."

Pearl, who had been sitting throughout the exchange, jumped to her feet, all glamour and class gone, and was replaced with the vampire who was truly her age. "I'm not asking for your help, Damon. Finding Katherine was just a mere gesture of kindness. The warning about the Romanov girl was simply about protecting my assets; her father isn't exactly someone you want to mess with. The rest is nonnegotiable."

She flew across the room, her hands like magnets to Damon's face and her thumbs pressed over his eye sockets. Using her vampire might, her thumbs pushed, pressing his eyes back into their sockets and into his brain cavity. His throaty scream and growls could be heard throughout the room, and he hissed in pain as he was thrown to the ground.

* * *

><p>Hayden's cell phone rang from beside her, loud and obnoxious, she answered the call. She was just starting to enjoy the nature and the alcohol's effects, and here she was being interrupted. She didn't know what kind of homicidal thoughts were going to ensue.<p>

"What?"

"Hey." Elena.

"…Hey."

"Look, I can't talk for too long 'cause I'm in the Mystic Grill bathroom but I just want to apologize for what I had said at lunch today, or actually, what I didn't say, but Stefan is just trying to watch out for you, like I am."

They were already on their double date? How long had Hayden been at the lake, drinking and smoking?

"_Elena, who are you talking to?" _

Hayden's brows furrowed as she heard the voice on the other line; Caroline's. "So you are on the double date. How's that going?"

"Uh," Elena was careful to talk around Caroline who was checking her hair and lipstick in the mirror. "It's going pretty good."

"Yeah, I might come spy on you guys from afar."

"What do you mean?"

"Julian and I had a fight and I am hungry as fuck. I might come by the Grill and get something to eat."

"Oh! Come say hi."

"_Hayden's coming?"_ Caroline's voice could be heard once more. _"Tell her I want to see her. I need to talk to her." _

"Uh, no thanks." Hayden sniggered and jumped off the hood of her car. Grabbing her belongings she threw them onto the passenger seat, before hopping into the driver's seat. "Being a part of that catastrophe is the last thing I want to do."

"Oh… okay, well, I'll see you tomorrow at school then, okay?"

"Sure." Hanging up the phone, Hayden peeled out of the gravel parking lot for the lake and made her way back into town, heading straight to the Mystic Grill.

Hayden knew that her being angry at Julian wasn't at all justified, but that didn't mean she didn't feel betrayed. He was all she had left and she felt like he wasn't respecting her wishes, just trying fix her problems when she wanted to keep them exactly the way they were.

"You're good at tying those cherries." Damon smirked drunkenly at Kelly who only giggled in response. Was this what his life had been reduced to? Getting drunk with cougars at small town bars when all he did, all he wanted, all he craved for was love. His brows furrowed at the thought, at how pathetic he was being and Stefan came to mind. He was so smitten with the look-a-like that he hardly realized how tragic he was being. And then all thoughts faded when he heard _**her**_ voice next to him.

"Whiskey sour, please."

"Hayden," He turned in his chair and greeted the petite brunette with a sloppy smirk. "What a pleasure."

She gave a short chuckle upon seeing his state, "We have to stop meeting like this." And then she saw the woman behind him. Red hair, early forties and most definitely pretty, but she looked a little familiar. Hayden, after all, never forgot a face. "And you have company."

"I do. Care to join us?"

A glare came from the redhead and she suddenly felt like she was intruding on something extremely personal, "I'm just gonna drink over in that booth over there, don't worry about it."

In one quick motion Damon had pulled Hayden backwards into his lap, and his face buried in her neck. He inhaled deeply, her sweet scent burning his nostrils and an insane hunger came over him. All the alcohol he had induced was toying with his senses and magnified every emotion. He imagined Hayden's blood leaving her body and entering him instead and venom started pooling his mouth.

"No woman of mine is drinking alone."

"Woman of yours?" Kelly questioned, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah," Hayden agreed with just as much shock, "Woman of yours?"

"She's hardly a woman, more a girl."

Hayden ignored the comment and moved so her face was closer to Damon's, and she could look into his eyes properly. "Damon, are you okay?"

"Is this the girl that broke your heart?"

"You've been talking about her?" any heart strings Hayden possessed shattered, and her hand came up to his face, "I'm taking you home, okay?"

She knew the extent of Damon's hurt was large, but she didn't know it had reached something of this capacity. He may have been sadistic and crazy, as everyone explained, but he was hurting, and that should have over ruled everything else. He was once a human being, and still had the emotions of one, and she couldn't imagine what it was like being treated and revered as a monster. She knew that if she didn't take him home he was bound to make a drunken mistake, and she didn't want that happening, for some weird reason she cared.

"Home?" He asked and his date seemed even more confused, and a little angry.

"Damon, I can't leave you in this kind of state."

"How about," He downed the rest of the contents in his glass tumbler, "We all go home together?"

Kelly perked up at the thought, no doubt because then she wouldn't be totally ditched for a woman younger than her, Hayden thought, but no way in hell was she going to have a threesome, not now and not ever. "How about no, Damon, you need to sleep."

"Hey," Kelly suddenly stood up, her chair discarded behind her, "If the man doesn't want to go home with you, then he's not going to go home with you. Run away, little girl, it's a little past your bed time."

"Excuse me?" Hayden scrambled out of Damon's lap and turned to the red headed woman, "You're clearly drunk, so I'll let all previous comments slide but believe me when I say this, you don't want to start something with me," Hayden stood forward and her petite figure was short compared Kelly's tall one, and she had to look down at her, "'Cause you'll be too fucking dead to regret it."

Kelly's hand was surprisingly quick for a human and before Hayden knew it she was back handed across her face. Her hair wisped around her as her head flew to the side, and gasps could be heard throughout the grill.

"Okay, ladies, let's not get too carried away-"

Hayden had pulled back her fist and smashed it into Kelly's nose with all the hybrid force she could muster; falling to the ground with a scream, nearby people sitting at the bar went to Kelly's crying aid. Sighing loudly and rolling her eyes, Hayden turned to Damon, knowing that if the two of them didn't get out of the place quickly, Caroline's mother was going show up and she already didn't like the Romanov girl.

Throwing Damon's arm over her shoulder, she quickly maneuvered her way through the people and out the front door to her car. Pushing him into the passenger seat, she peeled out of the car park and made her way towards the boarding house.

"What the hell, Damon?" Hayden looked over to see him lazily sitting in the seat, watching the passing scenery in his drunken, cavalier state.

"I think I should be saying that to you, you punched Kelly in the face, that wasn't very nice."

"So all of a sudden you got some scruples? Who gives a fuck about her, she slapped me first!"

"She was going to fuck me, Hayden, if you're jealous just tell me," He turned towards her. "We could finish round one."

A disgusted look came over Hayden's face, even though the idea wasn't so disgusting, "Ew! God, pass, as in no way and as in pass me a bucket!"

She pulled in front of the boarding house and noticed some cars out front, sighing loudly, she knew this was going to end badly. She had hoped that no one would be home, that Elena and Stefan were still on their date, but that probably wasn't going to be the case. She didn't want to be scolded again; it was just getting annoying now.

Killing the engine, she got out of the car and opened Damon's door. "Can you walk?" Grabbing onto the open door for support, Damon pulled himself out of the car and tried to stand on wobbly legs. Grabbing his arm once more, she threw it over her shoulders and supported most of his body weight. "Let's get you to fucking bed. Jesus."

Dragging him up the front steps, through the front door and through the hallway, Damon thought it would have been paramount to collapse on the first steps that lead to the second floor.

"Are you kidding me?" Hayden sat on the step next to Damon, breathing heavily, "We just have to get up the stairs, that's it, all I have to do is put you to bed." Grunting in response, she grabbed his arm once more and attempted to pull him up, and just when she thought she was winning, Damon fell back against the steps and somehow pulled Hayden down on top of him.

"Well, well, well," He smirked, and looked up at her, "Round one is on, huh?"

"Shut the fuck up about round one, I am so serious."

"Hayden?"

Turning her head quickly she noticed that herself and Damon were in the presence of others. Four other people to be exact. Quickly scrambling off Damon, she stood on the step, "It wasn't what it looked like at all."

"Really?" Stefan crossed his arms and Elena and Caroline glared daggers at her, "Because it looked like the two of you were getting pretty cozy."

"We were, until you interrupted."

Kicking Damon with her foot, Hayden told him to shut up. "Actually, Stefan, I was helping your brother home. He is insanely drunk and I was doing anything a decent human being would have done."

"Ha!" Damon laughed loudly from the step and attempted to stand up, "Like punching Kelly in the face was something a decent person would have done!"

"What?" Matt spoke up from behind Caroline and Elena, "You punched my mom?"

"Kelly is your mom?" Hayden asked incredulously. Matt had always seemed like such a nice boy growing up, how could he have been raised by such a bitch? And then she realized where she must have noticed her from. "She slapped me first anyway!"

"Hayden!" Elena scolded her best friend, "You can't just do that!"

"She slapped me! **Hard**!"

"That does sound like something your mom would do," Caroline shrugged her shoulders.

"Who cares," Hayden steadied Damon's falling figure, "Would you mind giving me some help?"

Matt ignored her, and turned to Elena, Stefan and Caroline, "I'm sorry, I have to go sort this out."

"Yeah," Elena agreed, "Don't worry about it, I'll drop Caroline home."

Matt left, but not before glaring slightly at Hayden and heaving a sigh. The front door slammed and the three of them turned to her, disapproving looks in their eyes, even though Caroline seemed like the only one who wasn't that disappointed.

"Stop that," She glared down at Damon who had been stroking her jean-clad leg slightly.

"If he's been drinking then you leave him at the bar, Hayden."

"**Okay**," Hayden walked down the steps, standing in front of the three martyrs who seemed so hell bent on keeping Damon and herself away from each other, "You know what, Stefan? I'm getting really fucking tired of you saying my name whenever we're having a conversation. I know you're talking to me, okay? You don't realize how fucking condescending it is, not to mention a little rude."

There was a silence in the room, and she realized that Stefan had probably never been confronted before, he always seemed like the nicer brother, but she had had enough of how she was being treated, and it was time for Elena and Caroline to step up in the friend department.

"Have you been drinking?" Stefan asked.

"Fuck yes I've been drinking. I got some pretty shitty news tonight, and it's a coping mechanism."

"You can't just drink and drive all the time, Hayden!" Elena used her friends name again, and she didn't care about how condescending it made her sound.

"Oh yeah?" Hayden walked forward but she was soon interrupted by Stefan.

"Elena, you should take Caroline home, it's getting late and I need to have a word with Hayden."

There was a silence in the room, and Elena and Hayden only stared at each other, almost daring the other to back down, but a comforting hand on Elena's shoulder from her boyfriend stood her down and she nodded her head. "Caroline, let's get you home."

"Bye Hayden."

"Later." Hayden liked to bitch about Caroline, simply because it was easy and with the way she always acted, Hayden just always thought that she was begging for it, but she noticed her happiness fall and she felt a little bad, "By Caroline."

The door shut behind them, and Stefan turned towards Hayden and Damon, sending the both of them disapproving looks, lines encroaching on his forehead. And then a light flashed behind his eyes, and the frown was gone, and his arms fell at his sides. "You want to help me get him to his room?"

"Sure." Hayden sighed, and picked up the drunk Damon, Stefan appearing at her side and casting his brothers arm over his shoulder, the two of them helped the intoxicated vampire into his room.

Stefan walked back into the Boarding house after walking Hayden to her car, and about to go interrupt his brother's alcohol induced sleep, he heard him pour another glass of alcohol from within the sitting room. A large sigh erupted from his chest, and he followed the sound, seeing his older sibling sitting on the couch.

And then it hit him.

"You're not actually drunk are you, Damon?"

A smirk graced his brother's lips, and Stefan noticed all swaying was gone and Damon stood firmly on his feet. It was all a ploy, to get Hayden to do god knows what, and Stefan was glad he interrupted before it turned ugly.

"I'm not going to tell you to stay away from Hayden, but there are some things you should know before you mess with her."

"Mmm?"

For a second, Stefan thought about telling his older brother about the history of the brunette Russian, about her lineage and her hybrid blood, but he decided against it- it would have only allured Damon in even more. But Stefan thought he should know about Stellan Romanov- an old vampire who was nice one second and one of the most sadistic monsters Stefan had ever encountered the next. He could only imagine how much Stellan cared for his daughter, and how much he kept an eye on her. If Damon got involved in it that would have surely been his demise. And so he was torn; between keeping his brother safe and keeping Hayden's secret.

Stefan's train of thought was interrupted with two vampires smashing through the windows. Glass flew everywhere and Stefan's hand came up to shield his eyes from the shards.


End file.
